Computational Thinking Skills (Cambridge (CIE) A Level Computer Science): Exam Questions

A fitness club has a computerised membership system. The fitness club offers a number of different exercise classes.

The following information is stored for each club member: name, home address, email address, mobile phone number, date of birth and the exercise(s) they are interested in.

When an exercise class is planned, a new module will send personalised text messages to each member who has expressed an interest in that exercise. Members wishing to join the class send a text message back. Members may decide not to receive future text messages by replying with the message ‘STOP’.

The process of abstraction is used to filter out unnecessary information.

State one advantage of applying abstraction to this problem.

A fitness club has a computerised membership system.

The system stores information for each club member: name, home address, email address, mobile phone number, date of birth and exercise preferences.

Many classes are full, and the club creates a waiting list for each class. The club adds details of members who want to join a class that is full to the waiting list for that class.

When the system identifies that a space is available in one of the classes, a new module will send a text message to each member who is on the waiting list.

Decomposition will be used to break the new module into sub‑modules (sub‑problems).

Identify three sub‑modules that could be used in the design and describe their use.

Sub‑module 1 ..........................................................................................................

Use ..........................................................................................................................

Sub‑module 2 .........................................................................................................

Use ..........................................................................................................................

Sub‑module 3 .........................................................................................................

Use ..........................................................................................................................

A train company runs an online ticketing system.

The system stores the following information for each passenger who books a ticket: passenger name, email address, home address, date of birth, preferred language, train number, travel date and seat number.

A new module will produce a seat reservation list for the staff working on a train. The list shows the seat number and the passenger name for every passenger travelling on that train on that date.

Abstraction is used when the new module is designed.

Identify two items of information, from those listed, that the new module does not need.

A company operates a multi-storey car park. A camera reads the number plate of each vehicle as it enters and again as it leaves.

The system stores the following data for each visit: number plate, vehicle colour, vehicle make, entry date and time, exit date and time, parking bay number and the driver's mobile phone number.

A new module will calculate the parking fee owed by a driver when the vehicle leaves. The fee depends only on the length of time the vehicle was parked.

Explain how abstraction is applied when the new module is designed. Refer to the data given in your answer.

A company hires out electric scooters in a city. A user unlocks a scooter using a mobile app, rides it, and then ends the hire by locking the scooter at any scooter parking point. The user pays for each minute of the hire.

An abstract model of the hire system is to be produced.

State four items of data that should be stored each time a scooter is hired.

State two operations that would be needed to process the hire data.

A supermarket is writing a program for a self-service checkout.

Decomposition is used to break the problem into sub-problems. Each sub-problem will be written as a program module.

Two types of program module may be used: a procedure or a function.

State which type of program module should be used for each of the following sub-problems.

Sub-problem 1: add up the prices of the items that have been scanned and send the total back to the part of the program that called it.

Sub-problem 2: print a receipt for the customer. Nothing is sent back to the part of the program that called it.

A software company is writing a large program for an online hotel booking system.

The company uses decomposition to break the problem down into sub-problems. Each sub-problem is written as a separate program module.

Describe three benefits of designing the program in this way.

An airline is developing a program for a self-service check-in kiosk at an airport.

A passenger scans their passport at the kiosk. The kiosk finds their booking, lets them choose a seat that is still free, then prints a boarding pass.

Decomposition will be used to break the problem into sub-problems.

Describe three program modules that could be used in the design. For each module, state whether it should be written as a procedure or as a function.